This is a very highly detailed model of a passenger brake van, built by Maunsell for the Southern Railway. Up until 1934, the Southern Railway had managed quite well with the brake vans it had inherited from the pre-Grouping companies but these needed replacing and the SR built 255 new vans based broadly on a design they has developed for the Dover-Dunkirk ferry service. They were used on milk and parcels trains but also appeared with passenger carrying stock.
The vans had a guard's compartment in the centre and storage areas at
either end. The guard's compartments were fitted with stoves and some had a safe built in.
Following Nationalisation of the railways in 1948, the Southern Railway Van C became
re-coded as a 'BY' ('B' = brake and 'Y = 4-wheeled).
Four versions of the model have already been released by Hornby and more are on their way. There are currently two in Maunsell SR olive green livery and two in BR Southern coach stock green. The SR versions are numbered '753' (R4301A) and '721' (R4301B) while the BR versions are numbered 'S664S' (R4306A) and 'S652S' (R4306B). While the 'S' prefix indicated that the vans were located in the Southern Region of British Railways, in later years they could be found in various parts of the country. The 'S' suffix indicated that they had to return to the Southern Region for maintenance.
The detail on these models is superb and so too is the finish. The Southern Railway ones, with greater livery detail, are particularly attractive.
Model Railway Express
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